Bonding with wildlife

Dr. Bruce Stein has spent much of his career on the topic of wildlife biodiversity in the United States. Averting a looming mass extinction crisis, the bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, will be the most significant investment in wildlife conservation in a generation. And I asked Dr. Stein if his efforts would engage the general public more strongly with nature. “That's one of the purposes. Yes, it could be used to help improve the connection between people and understanding and enjoying wildlife, and of course, not only are abundant and healthy wildlife a key part of why we live where we do, we love the birds and the other creatures that live in our neighborhoods and our general surroundings. But it's also important for a healthy outdoor economy. Wildlife focused recreation generates billions and billions every year for the local and national economy. And so it's key to that. One of the things that we have an opportunity coming up? There's actually going to be a hearing in the House of Representatives, in the House Natural Resources Committee. So we really have an opportunity at this point to get our legislators who are on that committee to step up and really champion this common sense idea so that we can do a better job of protecting and recovering the full breadth of our wildlife heritage.